Two Frys: April 2013

Sunday, April 28, 2013

New York City Hot Sauce Expo 1 of 5

New York City Hot Sauce Expo

April 20 – 21

110 Kent Avenue, Brooklyn, NY

High River Sauces Hellacious Hot Sauce

On Saturday, April 21, Allen and I spent the day at East River State Park enjoying the New York City Hot Sauce Expo in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The view of New York City was spectacular and it was a lovely sunny day, with mild weather and breezy at times. I should have brought sunscreen since we both ended up with sunburns on our faces. The event took place right next door to the famed Smorgasburg. Thousands of people attended this great event that featured more than 40 small-batch hot sauce companies from all parts of the U.S. There was hot sauce tasting galore from mild to extreme heat, craft beers and food as well. Allen had his share of capsaicin since he tasted about 50 hot sauces. I tried about 15 and opted for the milder, fruit base sauces. What do Bad Brains, Twisted Sister, Guns N Roses, Trans-Siberian Orchestra have in common at the expo? Musicians from these bands are brewing and selling their own hot sauce and it is quality stuff.

High River Sauces Tear Of The Sun Hot Sauce

Steve Seabury from High River Sauces organized this event and did a fine job and we want to thank him for his hospitality. We were impressed with the turn out and met and mingled with a lot of hot sauce peeps. Some chilihead vendors we knew and others Allen corresponded with online, so it was great to finally meet them in person. I enjoyed the beautiful artwork and interesting names on some of the bottles like Dirty Dick's, PuckerButt, Tom's Roid-Rippin' and Evil Seed to name a few. For spice lovers, this was the event to check out.

High River Sauces Rogue

Doors opened at 10:00AM with events throughout the day, such as Evil Seed's Peanut Brittle Challenge, which Allen tried and it burned him up real good. There was also a Volcanic Fiery Pizza Eating Challenge, Michelada Competition and Screamin' Mi Mi Awards Show. Here are the winners.

Chris Cafferty and Staff of High River Sauces

Louisiana Style Hot Sauce

3^rd Place – Lizards on the Bayou Lizard Spit Hot Sauce

2^nd Place – Volcanic Peppers Chocolate Lightning

1^st Place – CaJohns Firehouse Hot Sauce

Chipotle Hot Sauce

3^rd Place – CaJohns Happy Beaver

2^nd Place – NW Elixirs No. 3 Hot Sauce

1^st Place – Race City Sauce Works Deadwood Hot Sauce

Fruit-Based Regular

3^rd Place – Hellfire Blueberry Hell

2^nd Place – Frankie V’s Serrano

1^st Place – Dirty Dick's Hot Sauce

Fruit-Based Hot

3^rd Place – Bigfat's 708 Hot Sauce

2^nd Place – Race City Sauce Works The Awakening

1^st Place – Hellfire Devil's Gold

Jalapeño

3^rd Place – TAT's Ghost Town

2^nd Place – Salva Solsa Boom Boom

1^st Place – NW Elixir No. 2 Hot Sauce

Habanero

3^rd Place – NW Elixir No. 1 Hot Sauce

2^nd Place – Heartbreaking Dawns 1542 Chocolate Habanero Sauce

1^st Place – Rippin' Red Forbidden Angel

Scorpion

3^rd Place – CaJohns Moruga Madness

2^nd Place – Heartbreaking Dawns 1498 Trinidad Scorpion Sauce

1^st Place – Mild to Wild Pepper & Herb Co. Ralph's Righteous Scorpion

Pepper Blend

3^rd Place – Race City Sauce Works Pure Genius

2^nd Place – Mild to Wild Pepper & Herb Co. Ghost Garlic

1^st Place – Red Canyon Spice The Rapture Hot Sauce

Novelty

3^rd Place – Puckerbutt Pepper Co. Reaper

2^nd Place – Henry Family Farms Naga Jolokia

1^st Place – Tom's Roid Rippin' Hot Cherry Pepper & Roasted Garlic

Label Artwork

3^rd Place – NW Elixirs

2^nd Place – Puckerbutt Pepper Co.

1^st Place – Frankie V's Spooky White

Torchbearer Sauces

When we arrived, we picked up our VIP bag and wristbands inside the lovely BiBa space. There were vendors inside serving food samples and drinks. There was ample space to sit down when we needed a rest and a break from the sun. I took so many pictures and ended up with 5 posts to provide ample coverage. We tried to showcase all the hot sauce companies and provide links at the end of each post.

Heartbreaking Dawns

It was great to see friends Steve Seabury and Chris Cafferty of High River Sauces. They had samples of their sauces like Hellacious, Tears of the Sun, and the fairly new sauce Rogue made with blood orange, apples and pears and moruga scorpion peppers. (Note: Scorpion peppers are now the hottest peppers in the world.) Tears of the Sun is one of our new faves from High River's great line of sauces.

Bad Brains Fire Burn Babylon Hot Sauce

Bad Brains F.V.K. 7 Pod Extreme Hot Sauce

Allen stopped by the Torchbearer Sauces booth to talk to Vid, one of the Torchbearer founders. They talked about some of Allen's faves like Zombie Apocalypse and Oh, My Garlic sauces. It was great to see Torchbearer doing so well. Their booth was packed with people sampling and buying their sauces.

DEFCON Sauces

DEFCON Sacues

It was great meeting up with the Heartbreaking Dawns crew and seeing their sauces and rub samples for peeps to try, and purchase. Heartbreaking Dawns also packaged the new Bad Brains F.V.K. 7 Pod Extreme Hot Sauce and Bad Brains Fire Burn Babylon Hot Sauce. Cool that this highly anticipated sauce was available for the public to buy at the expo. We saw owner Johnny McLaughlin for just a few moments as he was back and forth between this event and Smorgasburg next door selling his Pit Beef.

Allen and John Dilley of DEFCON Sauces

It was awesome meeting John Dilley, President and Mad Scientist behind DEFCON Sauces from New Jersey. DEFCON had their wing sauce products out to sample and sell. DEFCON also carry a great selection of horseradish concoctions. John was a cool guy, and had his awards on display. DEFCON is one of our newer favorite wing sauces. John was more than happy to take a picture with Allen for the blog.

Evil Seed Sauce Co

Allen heard of Evil Seed Sauce Co from Freakville, FL on the web before, and it was cool meeting fellow chilihead Patrick McGill, the master of mayhem. Patrick is the sauce brew master that makes their heated evil creations in the kitchen. Patrick had Allen taste his sauces and gave him a few pieces of his awesome and hot peanut brittle. Awaiting a response, Allen told him it was one of the best spicy candies made with pepper extract. Patrick's personality was quite interesting and he interacted great with attendees. Evil Seed offer a varied selection of products and I see them growing in the future. Live good, eat evil.

Evil Seed Sauce Co

Allen and Patrick (left) of Evil Seed Sauce Co

Allen found Born to Hula Hot Sauce online and on Facebook, so it was great to speak with their staff as they offer a nice selection of hot sauces. Based in New Jersey, Hula makes real flavorful sauces. I bought Smokin' Pineapple after trying a sample and loving the fruit based mild heat. Allen enjoyed the great flavor of Devon Allman's Chipotle Blues, which was smokey and smooth. This medium heat sauce had chipotle peppers and cayenne peppers with roasted veggies. Allen also sampled the Habanero sauces and really enjoyed the heat level.

Born to Hula Hot Sauce

For further information, please go to:

New York City Hot Sauce Expo: http://www.nychotsauceexpo.com

High River Sauces: http://highriversauces.com/

Torchbearer Sauces: http://www.torchbearersauces.com/

Heartbreaking Dawns: http://www.heartbreakingdawns.com/

Bad Brains Hot Sauce: http://badbrains.com/

DEFCON Sauces: http://www.defconsauces.com/

Evil Seed Sauce Company: http://www.evilseedsauces.com/

Born to Hula Hot Sauce: http://borntohula.com/

-Allen and Sophia/Two Frys

Saturday, April 27, 2013

New York City Hot Sauce Expo 2 of 5

New York City Hot Sauce Expo

Tango Spice Company

Tango Joe, Tango Spice Company

Allen and Tango Joe, Tango Spice Company

Tango Spice Company Awards

I was looking forward to seeing Tango Spice Company and their line of products. Allen had a great chat with owner and fellow New Yorker, Tango Joe. They discussed some the spice blends and which one was best with venison. I was interested in their spices since I saw them listed on the New York City Hot Sauce Expo site under Vendors months ago. We plan to use their spices in future blog posts. They have a nice variety of spice blends to kick up all kinds of dishes-vegetarian, meat, poultry and seafood.

Allen sampling Wasabi Jolokia Mustard from PuckerButt

PuckerButt Pepper Company

It was nice to meet the folks from PuckerButt Pepper Company based in South Carolina. PuckerButt had a varied selection of hot sauces, spices, pepper mash and were selling pepper seeds from South Carolina.

Tom's Roid-Rippin' Hot Sauce

As Allen was trying a sample of Tom's Roid-Rippin' Hot Sauce he told him to "Let One Rip." Tom's offer a full line of sauces among them "Ouch My Roids" Habanero Sauce. Tom's also have a Sweet BBQ Sauce which was great and made me crave some chicken wings.

The Murph's Famous Bloody Mary Mix

Allen sampled The Murph's Famous Bloody Mary Mix and liked the bold flavor. This mix did not taste like most watery tomato juice based ones you find in your local supermarket, since it is made with tomato paste. This is a much better choice the next time you make a Bloody Mary.

Deano's Jalapeños

Deano of Deano's Jalapeños holding up a chip

Deano's Jalapeños

Deano's Jalapeños are the best jalapeño snacks Allen ever had. Allen has bought many different jalapeño chips, but none come close to the flavor of Deano's Jalapeños. These award winning chips are made with pure canola oil and are gluten free with no trans fat or cholesterol. Deano was a real nice guy and has a great product on the market.

Dirty Dick's Hot Sauce

It was a pleasure to meet Richard Westhaver and taste Dirty Dick's Hot Sauce. After Richard gave Allen his business card, Allen asked him "Are you Richard?" and he said, "Yep, that's me Dirty Dick." I had to laugh! Dirty Dick's was one of the Screamin' Mi Mi winners.

Big Fat's Hot Sauce

It was nice to meet Jeremy Walsh, President of Big Fat's Hot Sauce from Niles, IL. All the samples Allen tried were tasty and very hot. Big Fat's got your number according to whatever heat level you like.

Ojeda's Cherry Habanero Hand-Crafted Hot Sauce

Me with Eddie Ojeda of Twisted Sister

Allen with Eddie Ojeda of Twisted Sister

Ojeda's Cherry Habanero Hand-Crafted Hot Sauce

The minute I saw Eddie Ojeda I was wondering what he was doing at this expo. I know him from many years ago when he was my guitar teacher for a time (I sucked at guitar playing and quit trying after a year), and am a fan of Twisted Sister. Eddie told us he just returned from touring South America with Twisted Sister. Ojeda's Cherry Habanero Hand-Crafted Hot Sauce was great and very hot. The heat was a bit too much for me on its own, but Allen thought it was just the right blend. I plan to use it in a dessert recipe and will feature it on the blog soon. It was great to get pictures with Eddie and he also autographed my bottle.

Rippin' Red Sauces

It was nice to meet John Rizzotti from Rippin' Red Sauces and taste his awesome wing sauce. He also does Ojeda's Cherry Habanero Hand-Crafted Hot Sauce with Eddie. Both sauces rocked!

Volcanic Peppers

Volcanic Peppers have an impressive line of Pepper Seasonings (many extremely spicy), hot sauces, BBQ sauces, rubs and pepper dust. This variety is sure to heat up your kitchen. The dried pepper dust is great for adding a special kick to recipes.

Dragon's Blood Elixir Artisan Sauces & Condiments

Wow! Dragon's Blood Elixir Artisan Sauces & Condiments make a lot of hot and flavorful hot sauces. They also have a line of very tasty sauces called Unique Destiny Sauces.

For further information, please go to:

Tango Spice Company: http://www.tangospice.com/Tango_Spice_Company/Welcome.html

PuckerButt Pepper Company: http://puckerbuttpeppercompany.com/

Tom’s Roid-Rippin' Hot Sauce: http://www.tomsroidrippinhotsauce.com/

The Murph's Famous Bloody Mary Mix: http://murphsfamous.com/

Deano's Jalapeños: http://www.deanosjalapenos.com/

Dirty Dick's Hot Sauce: http://www.dirtydickshotsauce.com/

Big Fat's Hot Sauce: http://www.bigfatshotsauce.com/

Ojeda's Cherry Habanero Hand-Crafted Hot Sauce: http://www.ojedasauces.com/

Rippin' Red Sauces: http://www.rippinred.com/

Volcanic Peppers: http://volcanicpeppers.com/

Dragon's Blood Elixir Artisan Sauces & Condiments: http://dragonsbloodelixir.com/

-Allen and Sophia/Two Frys

Friday, April 26, 2013

New York City Hot Sauce Expo 3 of 5

New York City Hot Sauce Expo

NYC Hot Sauce

Allen trying some NYC Hot Sauce

Jon Bratton of NYC Hot Sauce gave Allen a bottle of his sauce so we can feature it on the blog so look for that next month. Allen loved the sample he had and Jon had him try a slice of cucumber with dried out pepper pulp spice and it was really delicious.

Bonfatto's Wing Sauce & Marinades

It was nice to meet The Chesterville Pepper Co. staff and sample their hot sauces and salsas. Allen tried the Chocolate Ghost Chili Salsa and loved it. They have a varied selection of pepper jellies as well and will be introducing new products later this year.

The Chesterville Pepper Co.

Frankie V's Kitchen had beautifully designed bottles and very hot selections of sauces. Frankie V’s Kitchen are based in Dallas, TX and also sell a variety of butters, habanero and serrano pepper sauce. Allen met Frankie and tried some of his products. Allen's favorite was the burning, hot and tasty habanero sauce, Frankie V's Fiery White Hot Sauce.

Frankie V's Kitchen

NW Elixirs

Piñata Hot Sauce

It was great tasting some of Rocky's Hot Sauce. Based in Oreland, PA Allen found them on the web and Facebook about a year ago. It was nice to meet Ben Carlo and have him explain heat levels of the various sauces they sell.

Rocky's Hot Sauce

It is always a pleasure to see our good friend Kenya Chasten, his staff and family from Guyank Brand LLC. Guyank's Original Sweet-Hot Pepper Sauce is one of our local favorites for some time and made with habaneros, veggies, fruits, vinegar, brown mustard, and more. You cannot go wrong with this sauce. Guyank also sells pickled items and great rubs.